5 Keys to Oilers Defeating Ducks in Game 6

The Edmonton Oilers are set to face the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first round on Thursday (April 30) at Honda Center. Anaheim leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.

Edmonton snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating the Ducks 4-1 in Game 5 on Tuesday (April 28) at Rogers Place. Now the Oilers will look to stave off elimination for a second straight game.

Here’s a look at what it will take for the Oilers to even up the series and send the teams back to Alberta for a winner-take-all Game 7 on Saturday (May 2).

Don’t Take Foot Off Gas

The Oilers shot out of a cannon on Tuesday, erupting for three early goals to go ahead 3-0 before Game 4 was even 11 minutes old. At that point, Edmonton was outshooting the Ducks 8-2.

But then the Oilers eased off, while Anaheim pressed increasingly as the game wore on. The Ducks wound up outshooting Edmonton 30-20 over the full 60 minutes, including 11-5 in the second period and 13-3 in the third.

It was the same scenario as in Game 4 on Sunday (April 26), when the Oilers jumped in front 2-0 just 6:32 into the contest before taking their foot off the gas. From midway through the first period onward, the Ducks outshot Edmonton 35-20, and Anaheim ultimately prevailed by a score of 4-3, with the winning goal coming early in overtime.

Anaheim is far too explosive an opponent for Edmonton to sit back and protect a lead, especially when playing the Ducks in their building. The Oilers haven’t always kept their foot on the gas against Anaheim, and that’s why they blew a lead a whopping six times over the first four games of the series.

Maintain Defensive Focus

That said, Edmonton managed to win by a comfortable margin on Tuesday despite allowing Anaheim to carry play for the majority of the game. That’s because the Oilers’ attention to detail was better than any other game during the series, and while they might have abandoned an attacking mindset, they didn’t abandon their focus.

Defensively, Edmonton’s play on Tuesday was much more reminiscent of the final stretch of the season, when the Oilers gave up just 19 goals over their last nine games, as opposed to the start of the series, when the Oilers gave up 20 goals over the first four games against Anaheim.

If the Oilers can play the sound and responsible hockey that they exhibited in Game 4, while still keeping some pressure offensively on the Ducks, Edmonton has a great chance of knotting up the series.

Another Strong Performance From Ingram

The other primary reason that Edmonton successfully protected its lead in Game 5 is netminder Connor Ingram. After being benched in favour of Tristan Jarry in Game 4, Ingram returned to the crease on Tuesday and provided Edmonton’s best goaltending of the series, making 29 saves.

Ingram went 1-2 while getting shelled for 14 goals over the first three games against Anaheim. While he was hardly to blame for Edmonton falling behind in the series, the goalie also wasn’t at his best. On Tuesday, he was at his best.

Edmonton has proven it can fill the net this series, scoring at least three goals in each of the first five games, so Ingram doesn’t need to be superhuman for the Oilers to win. He just needs to do what he did in Game 5.

McDavid Needs to Take Over

After being held pointless in both Games 1 and 2 against Anaheim, Connor McDavid has picked up his production, recording two points in each of the last three games. But the Oilers captain still hasn’t delivered a signature performance, where he simply takes over.

McDavid is due for one of those games, and the Oilers could dearly use it on Thursday. Yes, he is likely playing injured, but the superstar forward seems to be moving pretty well in spite of his rumoured ankle injury.

McDavid has only scored one goal in the series. If Anaheim keeps him in check for another game and the Oilers bow out on Thursday night, the captain will have to shoulder a lot of responsibility for his team’s loss.

Draw on Veteran Experience

The Oilers have been here before. Almost all of their core players have at least 100 games of postseason experience. Edmonton has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final each of the last two years, and since 2022 has faced elimination 12 times, winning eight of those games when its season is on the line.

This is almost all new for Anaheim. The majority of its roster hadn’t even played a single NHL playoff game prior to this postseason, and not a single Ducks player was around when the team last won a playoff round, in 2017. Game 5 was the Ducks’ first chance to advance in the playoffs, and they came up short. Now the pressure is on, playing on home ice, with the looming threat of going back to Rogers Place for Game 7.

Experience isn’t everything, but it’s something. And if the Oilers are going to pull off the unlikely comeback in this series, their veteran savvy will have a lot to do with it.